bike culture blogged

Next month Speedplay should be shipping their new Syzr pedal, a 2-bolt recessed cleat mtb pedal. I say “should” because this pedal has been in development longer than a Guns N’ Roses album. The cleat’s basic design has been about the only thing that hasn’t changed. As a longtime Speedplay user I’ve been keenly interested.

The key features of the Syzr are continuously variable float (a la Speedplay’s popular road pedal series, the Zero), separate spring latches on either side of the pedal so ground strikes can’t open the binding from below, an impact resistant plastic body, and lateral support for the cleat that exceeds that of any other mtb pedal on the market. After the initial product run, Speedplay intends to offer the stainless steel spindle version with the choice of spindle length.

After 13 years of running Speedplay Frog mtb pedals, I’m hoping that the new Syzr can provide the riding feel of the Zero pedal for cyclocross, mtb, and commuter riding while still retaining much of the Frog’s ease of ingress/egress. Unfortunately, I’ll need to replace 4 sets of Frog pedals for my stable of bikes. Suggested retail is $200-210 per pedal (only available with stainless steel spindles at first). That’s a lot of ducat.

Below is the earlier prototype publicly shown (Interbike 2008).

Next is the 2009 version, which had the plastic/resin body but still had the scissoring spring retention that originally gave the Syzr its name. The cleat has remained relatively unchanged during this development.